June marks six months of growth in hotel bookings globally
By Mike Ford, Founder and Managing Director at SiteMinder
Posted
The deeper into 2021 we set foot, the more we thankfully see hotel booking momentum strengthen, with small peaks and troughs not shaking the overall trajectory that’s been building since January. Reservation volumes globally have now risen to over 65% of 2019 levels, well above the 40% seen at this same time last year, and importantly, we’re also able to map growing international acceleration, the fifth and final stage of the hotel booking reset, taking place in each region around the world.
Europe
Across Europe, the summer period remains a key driver of current momentum. Bookings to 16 of the 17 European countries in the World Hotel Index increased over the last 30 days (compared to just 67% of all countries in the Index), and for French and German hotels, the results of the past month were particularly strong.
In France, booking volumes jumped to 59% of 2019 levels, up from 44% last month, as international travel became a growing part of the country’s recovery story. Open to vaccinated tourists from most countries, including the US, as of last week, the percentage of bookings made by foreign tourists to French hotels so far in June is the highest it’s been in 10 months, at 29%.
In Germany, with rates of coronavirus infections dropping, and confidence growing across the country, booking momentum also jumped, from 20% of its 2019 level to almost 60%. There, too, international arrivals are set to grow, as the country plans for its July 1 reopening.
The Americas
In the Americas, both Mexico and Canada are displaying strong momentum.
For Canada, where the 7-day average of new Covid cases is at its lowest point since late September, booking momentum has accelerated from 22% at the start of May, to 62% today. For those seeking to move between the US and Canada, there’s hope that their border with the US will open in time for Canada’s July 1 national holiday, and the July 4 weekend in the US.
South in Mexico, which leads the Americas in booking momentum, reservations to the Mexican Caribbean continue to skyrocket, with reports of many hotels at capacity in the region. In Playa Del Carmen, the number of bookings being made are currently at more than double 2019 volumes, and an average of 65% of stays for June and July are from international guests.
Asia Pacific
Finally, looking to the Asia Pacific, bookings to the Maldives and the Cook Islands remain well above 2019 volumes, led almost completely by foreign travellers, and international bookings to New Zealand also remain strong, as many Australians take the opportunity to jump across the ditch for some time in New Zealand’s ski fields. Our attention will also be on Thailand in the coming weeks, with the “Phuket Sandbox” initiative, designed to allow quarantine-free travel for vaccinated tourists, aiming to launch on July 1.
Overall, this data should provide us all a sense of excitement for the second half of the year to come, as movement becomes more fluid both within countries and around the world. As always, as situations evolve, you’ll be able to see it first on the World Hotel Index. Be sure to subscribe for free.
Until next month, take care.
Resilience and recovery define booking momentum in 2022
14 December 2022